My Review: St Kilda Blues By Geoffrey McGeachin

I had previously read, and thoroughly enjoyed Digger's Rest Hotel, and I was thrilled to find the high quality of the series has been maintained in Geoffrey McGeachin's latest release, St Kilda Blues - the 3rd instalment of the Charlie Berlin police procedural series. 

Detective Sergeant Charlie Berlin was cooling his heels, underutilised, underappreciated and undervalued in the Fraud Squad when asked to run a covert parallel investigation into the disappearance of a number of young Melbourne girls. Teamed up with his unorthodox old mate DS Bob Roberts, they sift their way through Melbourne's 1967 dodgy underworld in search of a serial killer. 

Charlie Berlin suffers from undiagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He is scarred from the horror of being a WWII fighter pilot and then as a captured POW, he is haunted by witnessing the death of a young Jewish woman in Poland. A nightmare exacerbated in St Kilda Blues by the canny resemblance of one of the key characters to the German SS officer responsible for the killing. Despite his failings, Charlie is a clever intuitive policeman and the plot enables him to let his deductive skills shine through. He is a complex character, and his vulnerability and self-destructive streak coupled with obvious intelligence endear him to the reader. 

Along the way the reader gets to enjoy the time-machine experience of the period. Life was 'groovy', vinyl record stores were commonplace and the social scene of the time was well-researched. Go-Set was the trendy magazine, Johnny Farnham was just starting out, airline travel was rare, but was with either Ansett or TAA, cameras used film that needed developing, mini-skirts were in, bras were out and the pornographic and drug industries were busy establishing themselves in the burgeoning metropolis of post-war Melbourne.

Written in a clear and easy-to-read style, with a plot that draws the reader in from both the killer's perspective and Charlie's, I thoroughly recommend this book to anybody who enjoys police procedural crime novels, particularly in an Australian historical setting. In St Kilda Blues, Charlie has his resolve, relationships and his entire existence thoroughly tested. Yet Charlie is a survivor. Even better, the crumbs are left for the next Charlie Berlin mystery. The queue for which starts behind me.

Thankyou to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Books Australia for my Advanced Reader Copy.

5 Stars *****

My Review: Murder And Mendelssohn By Kerry Greenwood (Phryne Fisher #20)

This is my third foray into the world of Phryne Fisher, and I was glad to find that little has changed since my last visit. Phryne is still very much a paradox character for her times. A dominant female persona that is sophisticated, smart, witty, charming and definitely far more liberal with her relationships than the men of the 1920s were accustomed too.

The main crux of the story is a murder mystery investigation set amongst the chaos of choral rehearsals for a Mendelssohn musical concert. Complementing this were numerous subplots, one of which enabled author Kerry Greenwood to explore one of the more taboo topics for the times in homosexuality. Although illegal in the 1920s, and described quite daringly by author Kerry Greenwood, the topic didn't come across as gratuitous and fitted easily into Phryne Fisher's world. In fact, the artistic setting coupled with Phryne's aristocratic acquaintances provided the perfect vehicle for it's involvement in the novel. 

My only small nitpick with the book was that I found the inclusion of song lyrics to be overused and a little distracting throughout the text. I have to admit, I wasn't familiar with the musical pieces being discussed and maybe this clouded my view. And perhaps someone with more classical musical knowledge might have found them a more rewarding and valuable inclusion. Nevertheless, it was only a small issue. 

This aside, it was once again an enthralling adventure to escape into Phryne Fisher's world for a few hours. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of the times, and in particular 1920s Melbourne. Phryne is her usual shockingly liberal, seductive self, and the plot provides the vehicle for her deductive talents to come to the fore. I am more than happy to recommend this book to anybody who enjoys crime fiction, particularly in a historical setting, and I personally am encouraged to go back and read some of the earlier books in the series, while I wait for #21 to hit the bookshelves. 

I would like to thank the publisher Poisoned Pen Press and Net Galley for providing me with my Advanced Reading Copy.

MY RATING 4/5

My Review: Through The Cracks By Honey Brown

A brilliantly written book that takes aim at some extremely difficult and disturbing subject matter. Australian author, Honey Brown does not shirk the issues of child abduction, child sexual abuse, imprisonment, homelessness and hopelessness in this novel. 

Adam is a teenage boy who has spent his formative years imprisoned in a suburban house. Eventually Adam stands-up to his aging captor and rejoins the world. Free at last, Adam has a chance meeting with Billy, a streetwise teenager, who takes Adam under his wing and introduces him to an outside world that he has never knowingly experienced. As Adam flourishes and grows as a person under the guidance of Billy they both begin to realise they are part of a much bigger issue. 

As the layers are unravelled and the level of abuse, depravity and hopelessness is uncovered, the reader is taken on a dark journey of despair followed by uplifting hope for a better outcome. 

The background to this novel is every parent's nightmare, but it is the relationships between the characters that is the true and rewarding focus. Congratulations to Honey Brown for having the courage to tackle such divisive issues and kudos for the compassionate and skilful way she takes the reader with her on the journey. Take my advice and get on board!

Thankyou to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Australia for my Advanced Reader Copy.

My Review: After The Darkness By Honey Brown

A disturbing and confronting psychological thriller set in  country Victoria by Australian author Honey Brown. 

Outwardly the perfect couple , Bruce and Trudy make a snap decision to stop at an isolated art gallery along The Great Ocean Road as they drive home from a relaxing holiday. Still in vacation mode, they enter the gallery without a care in the world. However Bruce & Trudy are the only visitors in the gallery, and after being greeted by a creepy host, they soon get the jitters - and with good reason. Captured, drugged and assaulted, they ultimately manage to make a violent escape, but not without some collateral damage. This becomes the turning point of the novel, and from here on, their lives are turned upside-down. In fact, it is a trauma from which Bruce and Trudy never fully recover. 

As Bruce & Trudy attempt to deal with day-to-day life, their relationship and mental health begins to unravel. Their family structure starts to fracture. Their kids don't understand what they have experienced, and in their diminished state, Bruce & Trudy compound their situation by making a series of really poor decisions. 

A spine-tingling plot, captivating characters and a gripping read that had me on the edge of my seat throughout! Like someone who can't avert their eyes from an impending disaster, I just had to keep watching as Bruce & Trudy's lives spiralled out of control.
I thoroughly recommend this book to all readers who enjoy psychological thrillers, particularly in an Australian setting. 
My first Honey Brown novel and definitely not my last.

4.5/5 Stars

My Review: Thin Blood By Vicki Tyley

Thin Blood is a thoroughly captivating contemporary whodunnit-styled thriller set in Melbourne, Victoria, and is the debut novel by Australian author Vicki Tyley.
And what a debut it is - I was hooked after the Prologue and couldn't put the book down until the thrilling and unforseen climax.
Very well written with red herrings and suspects galore and a meddling heroine in Jacinta that made me want to scream, "leave these people alone".
Convinced I had the murderer pegged a few chapters from the end, but alas I was just another sucker, and the climactic twist threw me for a loop.

I do not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone who likes contemporary crime thrillers. I am always excited by new quality Australian crime fiction that I haven't encountered before. Thank you to my Goodreads friend Brenda for pointing me in the right direction on this one. I have already sourced Vicki Tyley's other titles and I look forward to reading them with relish.

5/5 Stars

Is Reading A Dying Art?

Three times last week I was speaking to young friends and associates and they informed me that they never read books anymore. One even admitted he had never finished a book in his life. His thinking being, that any good story will ultimately be made into a movie. 'Why waste anywhere up to a week reading a book when you can watch it in 90 odd minutes in full HD with surround sound, and maybe even in 3D?' And in many respects he has a point. Is the act of reading a book a dying art? In the modern world, where we want everything yesterday, is the pleasure of escaping and being absorbed by a book over a few days a lost art?

I can still remember the furtive pleasure of being a pre-teen and reading a Hardy Boys, Three Investigators or Enid Blyton book under the covers by torchlight (with lashings of sneaky pleasure). However for many youngsters now, books have now been replaced by game consoles, computers, mobile phones and social networking. How do we encourage young children to read and rediscover the joy of books amongst the plethora of alternatives they now have for entertainment?

It is not just the process of reading I would like to encourage, I am concerned about children developing the bad habits associated with communication via facebook/twitter/mobile phones/social media. In many cases, poor literary skills can manifest themselves into poor speaking skills, which become a liability in adult life. I feel more needs to be done to encourage young minds to embrace books, and expand their minds and language skills.

One positive influence I can think of, is the state government funded Premier's Reading Challenges that are conducted in some Australian states. Essentially, each year children choose books from an extensive age-based list (compiled in co-ordination with public and school libraries), and are presented with a medal on completion of the challenge. As each year passes and the challenges mount, the medal and status gets progressively more impressive. It makes reading fun, challenging, even competitive, and something to be shared with classmates. I think methods such as these need to be explored. If it takes governments to get on board, then so be it!

We need to encourage children and young adults to read any way we can, and make reading cool again!

My Review: Whispering Death by Garry Disher

This is the 6th book in the Challis/Destry Australian (Victorian Mornington Peninsula) police procedural mysteries and a time in a book series when many authors start to run out of steam. Not so Garry Disher. In fact, in my opinion, this is the best book of the series thus far. Disher keeps his books fresh by rotating around the main characters from one novel to the next. This time Ellen Destry is overseas on a study trip and plays virtually no role in the story apart from an occasional skype conversation. In her absence, Inspector Challis is the main protagonist and Constable Pam Murphy emerges as an interesting, astute and very able sidekick.

As is customary with Garry Disher, the plot is multi-pronged, well researched and ties together like binder-twine. I also enjoy the characterisation. There are no 'larger than life' James Bonds or Dirk Pitts working at Waterloo Police Station. The police department is under-funded and undermanned. The characters that inhabit the station make mistakes, have diverse private lives, are battling their own personal demons and are fleshed out brilliantly by Garry Disher to make them interesting to the reader and durable enough to last multiple books.

If you have never read a police procedural novel before, then this is a great place to start, and despite being number 6 in the series, it is a standalone book (but read the others anyway!). Another wonderfully enjoyable crime fiction novel with absorbing and interesting characters by Australian author Garry Disher.

MY RATING: 5/5